Egypt: Lower
Launched in 2008, Egypt: Lower is one of the smallest maps in Conquer Club as it has just 20 regions. The map is based on the historical regions surrounding the Nile delta and is the first of four maps in the Egypt series (Egypt: Lower, Egypt: Upper, Egypt: Valley of the Kings and Egypt: Nubia). The particular features of this map are the Dhows (i.e. boats) illustrating the crossing points where adjacent regions may attack each other and auto-deployment (+1 troop bonus) on held capitals. The map, like the rest of the maps in the Egypt series, features well-made Egyptian design aspects. Due to its size, the map is best suitable for two player, small multiplayer (up to 6 players) and small team games. The map is not recommended for more than 7 players or quad games as with these settings each of the players will only get 2 regions when starting. Features Auto-deploy: Four capital cities (Ament, Khaset, Aneb-Hetch and Khent-abt) receive a +1 auto-deploy. Naming Challenges: There are two regions with similar names: Ament and A-ment. Starting regions Settings Recommended Due to its small size and quick play, this map works best in a 1v1 format. This makes the map attractive for people who want a quick game. Other popular settings would be sequential 3-6 player games or doubles or triples team games. For the most balanced game play, choose No Spoils. The Fog of War setting will add some spice to the game. Spoils *Escalating Always look for weak players and try to take them out to gain a few more spoils. Always build up troop stacks on the capitals (taking advantage of the +1 troop auto-deploy). *Flat Rate Flat Rate should be avoided on all small maps like this one. It makes the game about luck, and the player who cashes a mixed spoils set in three rounds will have a big advantage. *No Spoils No spoils gives the most balanced play for this map due to the map size. *Nuclear Want to add an extra challenge to your game? Use the Nuclear Spoils setting but don't forget: You can nuke yourself if you are not paying attention. 1v1 Each player starts with 8 regions. As this map has 4 auto deploy capital bonuses (each with a +1 troop bonus), the map is more about a lucky drop than getting the first turn. Of course, the best combination to win on this map is a nice deploy and getting the start. Getting control of as many capitals as possible early in the game will also give you a big lead. An easy way to win at this map is to get early control over the bonus zones (there are 5 different bonus zones). Try to control a zone bonus protected by neutrals so that you can reinforce/stack and prepare an assault on your next round. Do not attack neutral regions to conquer a bonus zone as you risk wasting your own troops doing this, which will give substantial advantage to your opponent. Multiplayers The key for winning multiplayer games is to conquer and and hold any of the four capitals early in the game in order to get an auto-deploy advantage over the other players. Also, try to conquer a small zone bonus early in the game, like IMU or Djedet. Conquering the IMU bonus zone is a big plus as it will give you a +2 troop bonus. IMU is also the easiest bonus zone to hold as it only has 3 regions. Another bonus zone to consider is Djedet as it only has two access points. Do not try to conquer Men_Efer as it has multiple access points and is difficult to hold (especially in multiplayer games). Team games The best strategy is to go immediately for an opponent elimination. This is especially true in quad games (in which each player starts with 2 regions) where a player can be eliminated even before taking his first turn. On small team games (Doubles and Triples games) the key is to conquer and hold any of the four capitals early in the game in order to get an auto deploy advantage over the other team. Then team members can work together to conquer a bonus zone and go for an opponent elimination. Additional notes The Dhows (i.e. the boats) connecting the Ament and Am-Pehu regions are not map decorations, but, like all the Dhows on the map, they show assault/reinforcement paths between the map's regions. Try to stay away from the Semabehdet and Ka-henseb regions as they are dead ends and they can only assault one adjacent region. Also, take in consideration that there are two regions with similar names: Ament and A-ment. Freestyle can be fun, but if a player can get their first turn in before the others start their turn, that player will gain a small troop advantage for holding auto deploy capitals; so be alert for the game start.